Vows
by starlight.moon.princess
Summary: When his children were born, Arthur Weasley made a vow that he's do everything to protect them. In the middle of the Final Battle, he's the only one who sees what's about to happen to his son, and he's going to do everything he can to prevent it. AU, Character Death.


**For the Quidditch League Competition (write about Molly and Arthur); the If You Dare Challenge (84. An Arm And A Leg); the Family Bootcamp Challenge (26. Provide); the Different Genre Competition (Tragedy and Angst) and the 10 Times 10 Challenge (spell: Protego)**

* * *

Arthur Weasley was barely 20 when his first child was born.

He'd been married to Molly for all of two years, and they were nowhere near the level of financial security needed to support a child.

But they did have love, love in amounts that even the richest families didn't possess, and a child was nothing less than a blessing. It was a blessing they weren't about to turn back from.

When Poppy Pomfrey brought the tiny, squealing bundle that was his first child to him, Arthur fell in love in a way he hadn't thought he could feel to anyone that wasn't Molly.

The precious little child in his hands was so helpless, relying on him for everything, and Arthur swore he would never fail him.

* * *

The years brought him six more children. He and Molly never managed to become as financially secure as they had dreamed of being, but that was okay. He wouldn't trade his children for anything in the world.

And when each child was laid in his arms for the first time, he made them the same vow he had made Bill.

He would never let his children down.

* * *

You-Know-Who was back, Dumbledore said.

Arthur wanted nothing more than for it to be a lie. How can he possibly safeguard his children from the greatest Dark Lord ever known? But hiding from the truth would only make things worse; make everything more dangerous for his children, so he did the only thing he could – he accepted the horrifying, unbelievable truth.

When Molly heard that Bill and Charlie had joined the Order, Arthur found her sobbing in the kitchen, head in her hands.

"They'll be killed, Arthur!" she wailed. "And Ron and Ginny – they're both so close to Harry, He'll go after them first! Oh Arthur…"

Arthur held her as she cried, running his hands through her hair and soothing her as much as he could. "Don't worry, Molly," he murmured, "I won't let anything happen to them."

A part of him was glad that Percy had broken away from the family. Because no matter what he told Molly, he knew it would take a miracle for them to come out of this unscathed. At least this way he knew that one of his children wouldn't be in danger.

But he also meant what he said to Molly. He may not have seen much hope in it, but Arthur Weasley would fight You-Know-Who himself before he reached any of his children.

* * *

It was a few months later that he found Molly crying again.

This time it wasn't in the kitchen at their home, but in their room at Grimmauld Place. When she saw him, she only bawled harder, explaining what had happened between sobs.

As soon as she said "Boggart," he didn't need to hear any more.

He held her tight as she cried himself to sleep and wondered how he was going to protect children who seemed to be determined to be on the frontlines of the war.

* * *

He had never expected to find himself in St. Mungo's when he had agreed to exchange guard duty rotations, but that was exactly what had happened.

He woke up to find Molly and Bill staring over him worriedly, both of them teary-eyed even as the Healers reassured them that he was going to fine.

And even though he knew he should have felt sorry for worrying them so badly, he couldn't find it within himself to do so. Because it had been Bill who was supposed to have been there, and if Arthur being injured meant that Bill wasn't, he would re-do the experience a million times over.

* * *

Arthur Weasley watched his daughter disappear on the train to Hogwarts, and a part of him died as she left. He had already helped his youngest son to walk into the middle of war that the Order seemed doomed to lose, and now he was letting his daughter attend a school that was controlled by Death Eaters.

Molly's expression told him she knew the same thing he did – Ginny wasn't about to sit by and wait for Harry to save them. She'd make trouble for Snape, and as much as he was proud of her for being so fearless, he was just as terrified.

He didn't want to have to bury his children.

* * *

They were in the middle of preparing for the Final Battle, and a part of Arthur felt like his world was falling down around him.

Throughout the war, he had taken some measure of comfort in the fact that Percy was safe, having disowned his family; that no matter what happened, Percy would survive. But here he was, in the middle of family getting ready to go to war, and Arthur couldn't help but wonder if he would ever see any of his children again.

He couldn't help but feel glad when Molly forced Ginny to stay back. No matter how implausible it was, there was always the chance that she wouldn't follow her brothers – that his little girl, at least, would be spared the horrors of truly being in the frontlines of a battle.

And then Remus and Kingsley came to ask him to help in deciding on where to send all the fighters, and Arthur couldn't help but selfishly think of his children once again. When he suggested that the secret passages be protected, he knew the twins would volunteer for that – and that meant that another two of his children wouldn't be in the middle of the worst.

Charlie was away, and that only left three of his boys. He could protect Bill, Percy and Ron – he _would_ protect them.

* * *

Arthur saw what was going to happen before anyone else did.

Fred had always been reckless, and in the moment he had been distracted by Percy's fight, he hadn't seen the Death Eater's spell fly over him. And now there was no time for him to escape.

All Arthur could think about at that moment was how he had felt when he first held Fred and George in his arms, two screaming little bundles that he had known would be trouble from the second he had seen them.

In many ways, Fred and George were the light of the Weasley family, the ones who kept them going when everything seemed hopeless. It was their jokes that had allowed people to smile over the last two years…

His two boys, who had never been apart from each other. If Fred died, he very much doubted George would survive it.

And Molly – his precious Molly, the love of his life, the woman who had given him more love than he had ever thought was possible – Molly would never get over the loss of a child.

Once upon a time, nearly two decades ago, he had made a vow to always protect them. He wasn't about to bury one child, let alone two.

He looked at Molly one last time, and mouthed an apology. And before she could react, he had pushed Fred out of the way.

As the stones came down upon him, he allowed himself one last smile.

If it meant his son would live, it was worth it.

* * *

**I hope you guys like it! As always, please don't forget to drop a review on your way out :)**


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